Jim Carrey was not a fan of Will Smith’s now infamous slapping of fellow comedian Chris Rock. In fact, he said he would have sued the actor for $200 million.
Not only that, but he’s also upset about what happened after the fiasco.
“I was sickened,” the 60-year-old actor said during an appearance on CBS Mornings. “I was sickened by the standing ovation [when Will later won the Academy Award for a best actor]. I felt like Hollywood is just spineless en masse. It really felt like, ‘Oh, this is a really clear indication that we’re not the cool club anymore.”
Smith also won and accepted his award for his father’s role in the film King Richard, a movie based on the rise of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams.
Carrey also took time to point out that the audience members who attended the 2022 Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, all stood to applaud Smith following his win.
Rock didn’t file a police report against Smith. A move Carrey didn’t side with. He told Gayle King, “he should have been arrested.”
“I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million because that video is gonna be there forever, it’s gonna be ubiquitous. That insult is gonna last a very long time.”
The Canadian native felt that it is ok to “yell from the audience” if you don’t approve of a joke, but “you do not have the right to walk up on stage and smack somebody in the face because they said words.”
King argued that the situation escalated to that level, but Carrey differed.
“It didn’t escalate,” he said. “It came out of nowhere because Will has something going on inside him that’s frustrated. I wish him the best, I really do. I don’t have anything against Will Smith. He’s done great things. But that was not a good moment. It cast a pall over everybody’s shining moment.”
